‘Tis the season: Fishermen get bumper krill catch

Fishermen in north central Vietnam are catching huge quantities of the tiny crustacean.

In the evening, villagers in Thach Kim Commune, Ha Tinh Province, use coracles to transfer krill from boats.

Villagers carry a basket full of krill.

People can buy fresh krill as soon as they are brought ashore.

Krill is small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea and also known as small shrimp. When krill season comes at the end of the sixth lunar month, fishermen can catch up to 80-100 kilograms of krill for each punt.

A kilogram of krill can fetch VND15,000-VND20,000 ($0.64-$0.86) depending on its quality. “On average, my family catches around 90 kilograms and earns VND1 million a day,” Tu Duc Nam, 58, said.

A middleman carries baskets of krill to sell to cold storages and the nearest wet markets.

A villager uses nets to dry krill, which can then be used to make various dishes. A local said: “We dry krill or turn it into fermented paste to sell at higher prices of VND30,000-VND40,000 per kilogram. However, these processes take months.”